Shopping Review: Zappos

Originally published in the Elegant Plus Newsletter on January 18, 2006

Billed as the “Web’s Most Popular Shoe Store”, we decided to review Zappos.com and see what all the fuss was about.
Until recently I’d been very reluctant to purchase shoes on-line, precisely because my foot
can be hard to fit, and there is nothing worse than a chaffing, ill fitting shoe. I like to be able to
try them on, walk around a bit in the store and decide if the toe is indeed wide enough, the arch
high enough, and heel snug but not pinched. Basically I want to know the answer to the
question “are they comfortable?” before I hand my credit card over. While I will rarely sacrifice
style for comfort, I will NEVER sacrifice comfort for style - not with shoes. The blisters are too
painful.
The search for a pair of ICON shoes - an artsy, hard to find, but exceedingly comfortable brand of shoe helped me to make the leap from die-hard off-line shoe shopper to on-line shoe shopper. (I found them, and love them!)
This review is based on five or more secret shopping experiences

The Good:

A huge selection. Almost any brand and style that you can think of from athletic shoes to designer shoes, from plain and practical to highly embellished stilettos. And….. sizes, sizes, sizes.
Have a small, extra, extra wide foot? They have them. Have a large, extra narrow foot?
They have shoes that will fit you too- and probably not just a few pairs, either. They even
have a section of “Vegetarian” shoes, for shoppers who prefer to be animal friendly in their
footwear purchases. It’s a shoe shopper’s dream come true.
Added features include extensive search capabilities and the ability to request an e-mail
when a sold out shoe comes back in stock in your size. Customers can leave reviews on particular shoe styles which are extra-helpful in making shoe fit decisions.

Shipping is often very quick and most arrive in four to five days from the time of order.
Zappos has a feature that tells the customer how long a particular shoe should take to ship,
available prior to placing the item in the cart. Once in the cart, the shopping cart view will tell
you how many more pairs in that size and style are available if it is at risk of selling out.
With one of my orders, I asked that Zappos ship to a different address than is the billing address. I received a courteous customer service phone call the next morning, confirming that I had indeed ordered the shoes and that the credit card was mine.
On another occasion after a shipping mistake which was noted on the return form, a customer service agent phoned to make a personal apology for the error. Both incidents indicate, a high level of commitment to the customer.

The Bad:
Disappointingly, unlike some of their direct on-line competitors, Zappos does not offer
shipping to Canada. We know our Canadian sisters are even more starved for fashionable
clothing and accessories in hard to find sizes than Americans are.

While there are numerous ways to search for shoes at Zappos (brand, style, size) I actually found the selection to be almost too overwhelming. If I saw something I might like, I found I had to collect it in my shopping cart just to keep track of it and await final decision. If not, it was almost impossible to find it again, unless I happened to remember the brand
name. There is a “My Favorites” feature, but it only works if you have an account or are
signed in. It would be better if it worked without an account.

Finally, it’s been shown in several studies that many consumers do not like on-line stores that
require a mandatory registration and account creation. Unfortunately Zappos is a store that
does require this procedure, rather than making it optional.

The Bottom Line:
If you love shoes, have a hard to find size, enjoy designer shoes, or are looking for a particular
brand or style shoe, we recommend Zappos.com.
Afterall, with an easy 365 day return policy on unworn shoes and free shipping there is almost no risk.

Popularity: 4% [?]